New Novartis vaccine guards mice against E. coli

[Marnica]

http://www.fiercevaccines.com/story/...oli/2010-05-06

We know that we have the potential there, and this could mean that once you get vaccinated you could even be covered against all the different diseases that E. coli can cause,"

Most of us do not spend a lot of time fearing the possibility of e-coli infections in ourselves or our kids. We know that it's possible and if we were to become ill we would most likely be sick, throw up and feel like we had food poisoning for a few days. We also know there is a small risk that we would become seriously ill. But yet we don't actively fear this...I mean at least I don't. I praatice good hygiene and hope the restuarant I'm eating at didn't just serve me some tainted spinach!. I guanantee you that if this vaccine actually ever becomes licensed, that e-coil will go down in history as being a deadly killer.

[nia82]

I've had e-coli from cheapo beef in October.. It was no fun with cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and vomiting so much that I ended up needing 2 bags of IV fluids at urgent care. The lesson I learned: don't buy cheapo meat, it's full of e-coli. I wouldn't run out to get a vaccine, but make wiser choices in terms of food. Sure, you can't always avoid it... But still.

I learned in Food, Inc, that all the corn fed mass production animals are full of e-coli (that's why the ground beef is treated with amonia, yuck)... So we don't buy such meat and neither DS nor I ever eat at fast food places (only Chipotle, but they only buy natural meat). DH still eats McD here and then, but I'm starting to get to him, lol.

[laohaire]

OK, here's what irritates me. (BTW, I hadn't heard of this till you posted it).

E. coli is mostly spread by factory farming processes.

So here's a vaccine. Voila, we don't have to worry about bad factory farming practices anymore, right?

[Sileree]

Don't we have e coli in our guts? Would the vaccine wipe them out?

[listipton]

Originally Posted by laohaire

OK, here's what irritates me. (BTW, I hadn't heard of this till you posted it).

E. coli is mostly spread by factory farming processes.

So here's a vaccine. Voila, we don't have to worry about bad factory farming practices anymore, right?

[2boyzmama]

Originally Posted by Sileree

Don't we have e coli in our guts? Would the vaccine wipe them out?

Yep, and I wonder about this!!

My middle son had an e. coli UTI at 9 weeks old. He was ebf at the time, I wasn't sick, I was really confused about how he could have gotten e. coli. That;s when I learned that e. coli is in our guts, and only becomes a problem if out gut flora is "off" somehow. So natural infections can happen without an external source.

And the external sources are preventable!!! Handle, prepare, and cook your food correctly and you are *so* unlikely to have any issues. Of course there might be the occassional processing contamination in a raw food (like the spinach a few years ago, that was salmonella, right?), but then we come back to the question of whether it's worth it to vaccinate an entire population for something that will only sicken a few.

[Marnica]

[QUOTE=2boyzmama;15382153]Yep, and I wonder about this!!

My middle son had an e. coli UTI at 9 weeks old. He was ebf at the time, I wasn't sick, I was really confused about how he could have gotten e. coli. That;s when I learned that e. coli is in our guts, and only becomes a problem if out gut flora is "off" somehow. So natural infections can happen without an external source.

And the external sources are preventable!!! Handle, prepare, and cook your food correctly and you are *so* unlikely to have any issues. Of course there might be the occassional processing contamination in a raw food (like the spinach a few years ago, that was salmonella, right?), but then we come back to the question of whether it's worth it to vaccinate an entire population for something that will only sicken a few.[/QUOTE]


If there is gobs of money to be made, the answer is yes, it's worth it.

[nia82]

It's preventable when you know what not to buy. I had no idea ground beef is full of ecoli all the time! And we cooked it thoroughly, it was pasta bolognese! In Food Inc I also learned about the tragic case of a young toddler dieing from a burger that was full of ecoli (I forget which, but was a large fast food chain restaurant)....

I wonder too what would happen if ecoli is completely eliminated.. It does live in the large intestines, it's in feces all the time. I'd think it's the number 1 cause for UTIs (cause the bacteria, even if you wipe correctly and have superb hygiene can make it up there, and even if you pee before and after intercourse, it still happens). I might think an even worse bacteria might take ecolis place...

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by laohaire

OK, here's what irritates me. (BTW, I hadn't heard of this till you posted it).

E. coli is mostly spread by factory farming processes.

So here's a vaccine. Voila, we don't have to worry about bad factory farming practices anymore, right?

Precisely. This vaccine would give food manufacturers a free ride. If e coli happens, it isn't their responsibility any more. It's your responsibility for not getting vaccinated.

Not only that, but it will INCREASE factory farming profits because they'll no longer need to expend any resources in keeping dung out of meat.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

Precisely. This vaccine would give food manufacturers a free ride. If e coli happens, it isn't their responsibility any more. It's your responsibility for not getting vaccinated.

Not only that, but it will INCREASE factory farming profits because they'll no longer need to expend any resources in keeping dung out of meat.

Thank you for putting this in better words.

Basically the corporations have figured out how to privatize profits (they get the profits for themselves, fine, that's a corporation) but also to socialize the losses (government oil subsidies, for example, is the only reason it's cheaper to buy California food in Massachusetts than Massachusetts food).

So here's another loss they have, E. coli contamination. And it gets people riled up and sometimes they make very different choices. Certainly the government has to get up in the company's business (and unfortunately, the same rules go across the board, so the very regulations that are supposed to protect us from factory farming, puts local Farmer Jane out of business).

But this is "perfect." You take a liability that the factory farms have, and you make it the responsibility of the consumer!!!

Now the consumer can "protect" herself from E. coli! And if she doesn't, well, we'll just say that's her choice, it's a free country after all (cough, cough).

Even better, everyone else including the government will play along because this will also help Novartis!

Can I just opt out of humanity please?

[Turquesa]

You've got it Laohaire! It's the American Way. Gotta love our great corporatocracy.

[Ambystoma]

The e. coli in my gut and I have a great relationship. They keep to themselves and I feed them, and they keep crazy bacteria from colonizing my colon along with producing vitamins that I can re-absorb and use. We're friends. I don't kill off my friends.

But seriously, e. coli vaccines? Really? I fear what would happen to the intestines of others who get such a crazy thing.

[caned & able]

Is there a problem with mice getting e-coli?